1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of snowboard bindings and more particularly pertains to snowboard bindings for a generic soft boot.
2. Description of Related Art
Snowboards use bindings to attach a rider""s feet to the snowboard with one binding for each foot. The bindings are generally rigidly fixed to the snowboard and provide some mechanism for securing a rider""s boot to the board. Ideally, a binding should hold a rider""s boot firmly but comfortably and be easy to fasten and unfasten. One of the major disadvantages of some snowboard bindings are that it takes considerable effort to strap the boot into the binding and to remove a boot from the binding which has to occur each time the snowboard rider boards a lift.
Although the desirability of a snowboard binding that has a quick step-in and release feature has been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,396 for securing a boot to a binding, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,275 which shows a rear entry step-in snowboard binding, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,700 which shows a quick release snowboard binding for a soft boot, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,895 which provides for a quick release binding strap and locking bar assembly for use with a variety of support baseplates, none of these prior art patents, or the prior art in general has addressed the problem of custom fitting a snowboard binding to a rider""s boot, as has the present invention, along with the ability to make critical comfort adjustments without the use of tools, or the ability to fasten screws that may have come loose during hard use on the mountain with the use of a tool that is accessible and ready for use as part of the binding itself. Moreover, the prior art has tried but failed to provide a quick-release buckle that cannot be accidentally opened by environmental conditions and does not become jammed by snow.
The snowboard binding system of the present invention provides tool-less adjustments to the binding for a custom fit providing maximum comfort and control. The adjustments are made by a cammed lever that provides screw attachment and locking resistance that prevents release by other than manual means. A tool-less back plate lean adjustment block for controlling lean of the back plate carries a screwdriver bit which can be used in conjunction with the lean adjustment block to tighten any baseplate mounting screws that may have loosened as the result of hard use. A quick release lever and buckle provides fast in and out action upon easy manual operation of the buckle which resists all unwanted releases and jamming from snow build-up by use of an interlocked latching member and disengaging lever.